Recognition For Snow Storm Service

The Hamburg Town Board, Town of Hamburg Emergency Services office, and Town of Hamburg Police Department held a brief ceremony prior to the board meeting on Monday March 9, to recognize the contributions of the town’s volunteer fire companies, mutual-aid police departments, and private citizens who went above and beyond during the November 2014 snowstorm that crippled the region.

Newton Abbott assistant fire chiefs George Sweetland and Chad Locher accepted a plaque from Supervisor Steven Walters on behalf of the members of Newton Abbott, who spent the better part of that week living at the fire station.

Newton Abbott received scores of emergency calls during the period of the storm, from November 17-25. The Town of Hamburg was in a State of Emergency during this period, which saw a travel ban, thousands of residents trapped in their homes, motorists trapped on the highways (and requiring evacuation to shelters), building collapses, and a structure fire in the Village of Blasdell. The fire company provided short-term shelter to a number of stranded motorists, eventually delivering them to a Red Cross station set up in Orchard Park. We also hosted numerous out-of-town fire companies who came to assist as part of a statewide mutual aid activation.